Reading at Home...Can Make a HUGE Difference!

Make Reading A Part Of Your Family Time!

Family time is so important… Why not make reading part of this valuable time with your kids?
Here are some tips for integrating reading into our daily family activities:

-Read bedtime stories

-Play a board game

-Visit your local library

-Read a recipe and cook something yummy together!

-Create a comfy reading space in your home.

-Put your child in charge of reading the grocery list at the store.

Choose Books That Are At An Appropriate Reading Level For Your Child

-Use the five finger rule. Open the book to any page and ask your child to read. Put up a finger every time your child does not know a word. If you have put up more than five fingers before the end of the page, this book is too hard for your child.

-Choose books that match your child’s likes and interests.

Keep plenty of reading materials in your home: books, magazines, newspapers, and comic books. Children enjoy having a variety of reading materials!
Read Books Online!
There are many fun and interactive websites for literacy.

Here are a few FREE online resources:

www.starfall.com

www.speakaboos.com

www.spellingcity.com

www.wegivebooks.org

http://interactivesites.weebly.com
How To Read With A Beginning Reader:
•Encourage your child to use his/her finger to point to each word.

•Read a sentence and have your child repeat it.

•Take turns reading a sentence each or a page each.

•Talk about the story as you read it. What do you think will happen next? What does this story remind you of? How do you think this character feels?

•Don’t be afraid to read the same book again! Repeated reading helps build reading fluency!

Check For Understanding
Start the book by making predictions. What do you think will happen in this story?

Ask questions and make comments duringthe reading process.

After reading a book, have your child tell you the events from the story in the correct order.

What was the problem in this story?

How did the character feel when…

Encourage your child to make connections. Does this story remind you of another book you read, an event in your life, a movie?


15-20 minutes is plenty for a beginning reader!
@ All Students Can SHINE 2014

Reluctant Reader Strategies

If your child is a reluctant reader and says that books are boring, let’s delve a little deeper to find out if books are really boring and then find strategies to help.

To find out, ask questions like:

“Do you remember any books that weren’t boring? “If you could read a not-boring book, what would it be about?” “Does boring mean tricky?”

If boring means boring, hooray! That’s quite a bit simpler than tricky. All you have to do is find the right book to hook your child into reading or right motivation to make reading fun. If boring means too tricky, then can use Book Love to figure out what part of the reading processes are challenging for your child. Book Love includes quick and easy home assessments.

If Books are Boring, Try These Ideas

1. Get silly. Most kids are silly. Get books that will crack your kids up – no matter what age, gender, or interest. (Funny books listed in the last chapter of Book Love.)
2. Get social.  Start a parent-child book club of your own. Gender and grade specific book clubs usually work best because of reading level and interest.
3. Get geeky. Kids love technology. Use that love to develop a love for reading, too. Read on a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or  the computer. All have selections of good electronic books (e-books) for kids. (E-books books listed in the last chapter of Book Love.)
4. Get graphic novels. Graphic novels (full-length comic-style stories) don’t deserve the lack of reading status they’ve been given. They very much count as reading. Why not encourage it your kids to try one?
5. Get book bucks. Give your child money to spend on books – either at the bookstore or at a yard sale.  With young children, instead of money, give them a book buck worth one book of any price. Printable Book Love Book Bucks.
6. Get movies.  Want to see the movie? Read the book first. Or vice-versa. But usually the book beats the movie hands-down.
7. Get cozy.  Make an enticing place for your child to curl up with a good book. Use your spaces and imagination. With your child’s help, designate a tent, corner, or closet for his reading nook. Your goal is to get your child to LOVE stories. Keep trying. Find out what motivates your child to move beyond “books are boring”.

(from: http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/11/7-ideas-for-a-child-who-thinks-book-are-boring/)

10 Ways to Help Kids Who Get Stuck on a Word

We all get stuck on words from time to time.  This is especially true for beginning readers.  Our first instinct is to tell a child the word when they get stuck.  BUT, hold on.  I have 10 strategies that you can use to encourage them to figure out the word on their own! 

10 Strategies to Teach Me How To Read

Good readers use lots of different strategies.  Decoding words or figuring out the words is just one piece of the reading puzzle.  Below are prompts that you can use to help a child apply strategies to figuring out unknown words.

1.  Wait at least 5 seconds.

Before saying anything,  quietly count to 5.  Many times, if we just give the reader a moment to struggle and problem solve, he will be able to figure the word out on his own.  But, if that doesn’t work, try some more of the strategies on the list.

2.  Give it a try.

Many kids are in the habit of just waiting for someone to tell them the unknown word.   Encourage them to try it on their own.  This is a great confidence builder.

3.  Do you see a part you know?

Bigger words can be daunting.  Have the child look for a part they already recognize in the word.
For example, in the word hitting, the child might recognize the “ing” ending or the little word “it”.  Knowing some word parts can help you figure out the word.

4.  Look at the picture for a clue.

The pictures are meant to compliment the text and often can provide valuable clues to unknown words.  Easy readers are purposefully designed to provide lots of text support through the illustrations.

5.  Get your mouth ready for the first sound?

This one is similar to give it a try.  I used to say, “Give it a try.  The word might just pop out.”  When a child attempts the first sound, sometimes the correct words just falls out.  This prompt is great for those kids who just sit and stare into space waiting for someone to tell them the word.

6.  Think about what word would make sense.

This is a strategy for decoding and comprehension.  Thinking about the sentence, paragraph or story often provides clues to the unknown word.

7.  Cover up part of the word and try again.

Covering the endings (suffixes) of words often helps young readers recognize words they may already know but don’t recognize with the suffix attached.

8.  Skip the word.  Keep reading and then come back.

Sometimes, when the other strategies aren’t working, it’s best to skip the word and read on to the end of the sentence.  The rest of the words can be helpful in determining the unknown word.  Just remember to remind the child to return to the unknown word after skipping it.

9.  Go back to the beginning and try again.

When we are struggling with too many words in a sentence or a paragraph our reading fluency is greatly impacted.  All this problem solving also impedes comprehension.  Try telling the child to go back to the beginning of a sentence, a paragraph or a page and try starting again.

10.  Does is sound right?  Does it look right?

If a child mispronounces a word or says the wrong word, these two questions are very helpful.  Thinking about what makes sense is critical in determining words and comprehension.


(courtesy of: http://growingbookbybook.com/2014/08/18/teach-me-how-to-read-strategies/#_a5y_p=2237081)

Parent/teacher communication in Title One Reading

I'm so happy to be working with some wonderfully well-behaved, hard-working, first and second grade readers this year. I welcome Mikeyah, Allie, Hailey, Yaneli, Isis, Avelina, Isaiah, Kevin, Drake, Sarai, and Natalie to Title One reading!


Each night, your child will bring home a reading bag that has a green parent/teacher communication log inside of it. There is also a book for your child to read to you that should take less than 5 minutes to read. This book should be easy for your child to read, as they have practiced reading it 4 times with me! This book is at your child's instructional reading level, which means that your child is learning decoding and comprehension strategies to use with teacher support. Please feel free to write down any questions or concerns you may have regarding the book, your child's reading behaviors, or our reading program on the parent/teacher communication sheet.


After your child has read 10 books and has 10 parent signatures on his/her sheet, they earn a small prize to celebrate!


I'm always happy to provide you with a list of books at your child's level that you can check out from the library, as well.


Remember, there is no "magic" to becoming a better reader...the only way to improve reading skills is by reading. Your child will get practice reading in their classroom, in Title One reading for 30-45 min/day, and will improve their reading confidence by reading with you at home!

(photo courtesy of https://www.sd59.bc.ca/family/learning-services/reading-recovery)

Welcome back bear readers!

Welcome back to school! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and read a lot of books! My son Konner and I enjoyed visiting many local libraries this summer and participating in their summer reading programs.  I am looking forward to reading with many new Jefferson bears this year. :) Make sure that you read EVERY night. After all, the only way you will become a better reader is by practicing your reading (just like basketball players practice all the time! just like musicians practice all the time!) And there are sooo many things you can read about-all around you...just look below!

Summer Reading

Summer shouldn't mean taking a break from learning,

especially reading. Studies show that most students

experience a loss of reading skills over the summer months,

but children who continue to read actually gain skills. Efforts

should be made during the summer to help children sustain

reading skills, practice reading and read for enjoyment.

Taking the time to read with your child can help you evaluate

your child's reading skills.

Educators consider summer reading very important in

developing life-long reading habits, in maintaining literacy

skills and in promoting reading for pleasure. Studies have

repeatedly shown that children who continue to read during

the summer months perform better when school resumes in

the fall.

Research has also shown that when parents are actively

involved in learning at home, their children become more

successful in and out of school.

(Based on a feature article written for the May 2003 issue of Classroom

Connect Newsletter, The K-12 Educators' Guide to the Internet

Why Do Summer Reading?

It increases:

-Reading level

-Visualization skills

-Language skills

-Thinking skills

-Vocabulary

Some Tips for Summer Reading:

-Have plenty of books, books on tape, magazines,

and other reading material around for kids to read.

Keep books in the car and make sure a good book gets

tucked into sports bags and campers' backpacks.

• Get your child his own library card. Take or allow him

to go to the library often and browse for books and enjoy

special activities.

 

-Help your child select books on topics he is

interested in and on his reading level. A simple rule of

thumb for helping your child select books at his reading

level is to have them choose a page in the book (not the

first one) and read it. If he doesn’t know five or more of

the words, then the book is too hard for pleasure

reading.

 - Connect reading with other summer activities.

For example, read books about places you will go over

the summer or things you will be doing. Perhaps you will

visit the beach or go camping; there are many good

books about the beach and camping!

-Set goals and reward reading. Reward reading with

more reading. If your child finishes one book, stop by the

store and let him pick out another.

- Let your kids see you read. Read the newspaper over

your morning coffee, take a magazine from the rack in a

doctor's office while you wait, and stuff a paperback into

your purse, pocket, or briefcase. Your kids will catch on

to the fact that reading is something you like to do in

your spare time.

-Make reading together fun and memorable. Even if

your child is a super reader, they still love to be read too.

You may want to use different voices for different

characters when you read to your child. Reading

together is a time for closeness and cuddling - another

way to show your love as a caring adult. Children love to

read letters and notes you write them.

• Read it, then do it. Does your child want to learn magic

tricks? Juggling? Computer games? There's sure to be a

book that can help him. Have your child
read the instructions and then give it a try.

 

Word family fun!

 Word families are groups of words that have a common feature or pattern - they have some of the same combinations of letters in them and a similar sound. For example, at, cat, hat, and fat are a family of words with the "at" sound and letter combination in common.
The 37 most common word families in English (according to Wylie and Durrell) are: ack, ain, ake, ale, all, ame, an, ank, ap, ash, at, ate, aw ay, eat, ell, est, ice, ick, ide, ight, ill, in, ine, ing, ink, ip, it, ock, oke, op, ore, ot, uck ,ug, ump, unk. Many of the nursery rhymes contain common word families. You can use these rhymes to teach these letter combinations (and how they are spelled and spoken), having the students sound them out after memorizing the rhyme. 
(from: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/wordfamilies/)
My kindergarten groups have been working on short a word families such as -at and -an. They are learning that if we notice a word family in one word we an read and write many more words! Look at their great work below: